"Xiaolang?" Yingfei called out to the boy in concern.
He had suddenly stiffened up and gone quiet after she had spoken. She had just offered the boy in front of her a helping hand yet looking at his expression, it was clear that he wasn't all that thrilled. She had expected as much from the usually expressionless guy but it was the confusion he was showing her that threw her for a loop. Was there something wrong with what she said? Did she word it weirdly?
"Why?" he suddenly asked.
"Why? Why what?" it was her turn to become confused this time.
"Why would you help me take the winning shot?" Xiaolang asked again with his soft tone, but in a complete and lengthy sentence.
Yingfei stared at him closely and raised her eyebrow. "Why ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต?"
He narrowed his eyes and stressed his words, "It's the ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ shot."
Hearing him say those words with such intensity caused her to finally burst out in laughter. "Hahahaha! That's what you're so hung up about? So what if it's the winning shot? We're on the same team. Does it really matter? Besides, you'll be the attacker while I pass you your bullets. It's ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ job to eliminate them, not mine."
Xiaolang's eyes widened at her response. What she said wasn't wrong. It completely made sense! Yet... there was still an obvious trace of confusion within him. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as if at a loss of words, maybe even stopping himself from speaking any further. Nonetheless, he evidently wasn't satisfied.
Looking at his expression, Yingfei dawned in understanding. "Sigh, I think I know what's wrong with you."
"What's wrong?" he asked in surprise. He'd never been told that there was something wrong with him before. Arrogant? Yeah. Snobbish? Maybe. But that was just a personality trait. And he obviously hadn't been acting his usual arrogant self when undercover. Then what did she mean by wrong?
She certainly didn't mean his undercover personality.
"I don't understand..." he uttered softly.
Yingfei giggled at his clueless stupor. "I'm sure you don't. I don't think you've ever been taught about the meaning of being in a team. Which is quite surprising given our age."
"Team? You mean teamwork?" he asked in a startled yet inquisitive tone. Teamwork was an obvious idea.
"Hmmmโฆ Maybe. But not really," she mumbled. In the background, the match was almost finished, with only Shen and Beifong left. After sorting her thoughts, she continued, "Teamwork is quite a large scope. Just helping someone could be seen as having teamwork. But the meaning of being in a team, a group or an organization could be a whole other concept. But you could say that the main thought of these people... is to serve a purpose and strive to reach the same goal together. But more than anything, they will always have the interests of the team at heart."
Hearing her words, Xiaolang sank into deep thought, muttering the important main ideas to himself. "Serve a purpose... strive to reach the same goal together... have the team's interests at heart..."
Yingfei softly smiled at him. He suddenly appeared so vulnerable and innocent. In a slightly stereotypical way, his hard-gelled hair was seemingly more of an indication of his sheltered upbringing. Even under the influence of all that gel, a few strands were already trying to make their way out from all the physical activity.
He's so cuteโฆ she giggled internally. His obliviousness kind of made her want to teach him so much more about these simple life lessons. In a sense, he was her teacher when it came to school subjects, but she would also soon become his when it came to life...
PHWEEEEEET!!
The sound of the whistle blew.
"Winner, Team RED!"
"WOOOOOOOOOO!!" the students on the other side starting shouting and celebrating.
"Next round's in 3 minutes!"
"That bastard!" Beifong fumed. She walked towards Team Blue where everyone stood up to welcome her. Shen had apparently done a dirty trick against her which led to her defeat. It was a done deal and no amount of cursing could fix it. But that still didn't stop her from cursing his name violently.
Theon patted her back reassuringly without commenting on her mood. "Alright we lost the first round but we still have one more left. Who's had a change of heart?"
Yingfei quickly lifted up her hand.
"Ohoh! You finally decided on being an attacker?"
"No," she shut him down immediately. She then pulled Xiaolang's hand next to her forward. "Xiaolang wants to be an attacker next."
Many people made faces of surprise, including the boy himself. He didn't think she would be so upfront about it. Where did the sudden boldness come from?
"๐๐ช๐ฎ an attacker?" Beifong scrutinized. Who was Xiaolang if not a background character? Without warning, she walked straight to him and suddenly punched him hard in the chest.
Xiaolang let out a low grunt upon impact, but his feet were still planted firmly in place. He held himself down pretty well from the sudden attack.
"Hmph... Not bad. He's got some muscle," she exclaimed in surprise and gazed at him from top to bottom. "Fine. Let's see what you've got."
The chocolate brown-haired boy narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Did he just get her recognition? He turned to Yingfei beside him to see her give a surprised thumbs up.
She didn't expect Beifong to have such a strong reaction but she, even more, didn't expect him to have it settled so easily. At most, she was ready to talk back at Beifong's criticism and tell everyone to give him a chance, yet she barely even said anything to hype him up before he got immediately accepted.
"Alright then, Li Xiaolang is now an attacker. Remember that. Anyone else?" Theon announced and settled the air before people thought too much into it. After much thought, a few other members also decided to swap roles.
Most of them elected to change roles because they felt it better that way but a few just wanted to try and change them for fun. They managed to receive a scornful look from Beifong for that but Theon urged her that it was just a game repeatedly for her to finally shrug it off.
Xiaolang was obviously the most surprised by the inner workings going on. He'd always been on the outside of sports team and never really paid attention to the clockwork that went on with the players themselves. But he was still looking through glass at this point. Unless he actually managed to play and ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต get knocked out so early in the game, it would be difficult for him to properly experience it.
Minutes of strategizing later, Mr. Wei blew his whistle signaling the time to get into positions.
Team Blue dispersed their huddle and started getting into place.
"Come on, Xiaolang!" Yingfei pulled his hand, surprising him again by the constant intimacy. "You should stay in this position."
Xiaolang nodded back to her in a daze, which she clearly noticed.
"Xiaolang!" she let go of him and snapped her fingers in front of his face.
He jolted in response. "Yeah!"
"You're an attacker now. Don't lose focus and get struck first again," she advised patiently. "When the whistle blows, rush for the balls as fast as you can okay? Aim and shoot."
"Okay," he nodded more focused. This time he wasn't going to lose concentration like before.
"I'll pass you as many balls as I can," seeing his serious face, she felt like teasing him just a bit. "Remember, I still have to help you get the winning shot."
Thump.
Xiaolang stared at her, at a loss for words.
Seeing his silliness, Yingxue couldn't help but giggle and flick his forehead. "It's game time for real this time."
Stunned again by the girl before him, he touched his forehead where she had carelessly flicked. Maybe in the everyday world it was a common gesture, but for him, it wasn't.
She had already walked off to her own position, leaving him in another daze right before the game started but fortunately, she was aware this time. She snapped her fingers from where she was to wake him up out of it before mouthing, "You okay?"
Xiaolang immediately snapped out and realized he had been distracted too much lately. She had stopped him just in time before the many alien emotions started overwhelming him. "I'm okay," he mouthed back before turning to stare down at the other team while eyeing the balls before him.
However, what he didn't realize was that some of the alien emotions he was feeling were already beginning to seep in, which was why his forehead was feeling warm, and his heart a little happy.
PHWEEEEEET!!
"Begin!"
โฆ..